


Avengers Adjacent Nightmare Club

by Catsparrow



Series: The Avengers Nightmare Club [4]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Male-Female Friendship, Multi, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-08
Updated: 2019-05-17
Packaged: 2020-01-07 01:26:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18400319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Catsparrow/pseuds/Catsparrow
Summary: Five times non-avengers found comfort in the Nightmare Club.





	1. Pepper

By the time Pepper made it down to the lab for her last task of the work day, her feet were throbbing, her shoulders ached, and she could feel the beginnings of a killer migraine creeping up her skull. 

“Save me from crusty old board members!” She groaned and dropped herself onto the lab couch.

“That good, huh?” Darcy asked, approaching the couch with a cold bottle of water from the lab fridge, a granola bar, and a bottle of excedrin. 

“Bless you Darcy!” Pepper gratefully accepted the items from her and took the excedrin right away, following it up with a long drink of water.

“Anything I can do to help?” Darcy offered.

“Thank you but no, this is just one of those fun days I regret becoming CEO.” Pepper tilted her head back and closed her eyes.  
“I need a vacation.” 

“You should join us tonight.” 

“Thank you, Darcy but I don't think I am up for going out tonight.”

Darcy shook her head. “Neither are we. It's nightmare club.” 

“You mean movie night?”

“Tonight, yes but nightmare club sponsors many activities for the sleep challenged.” 

“You don't mind me coming without Tony?” 

“Of course not! I know it's technically called Avengers Nightmare Club but it should be avengers and avengers adjacent.”

Pepper thought for a moment. She'd planned on taking a two hour painfully hot bubble bath with a bottle of wine but she'd spent a lot of nights in a similar fashion this week with Tony gone on a business trip. Maybe some company would be a nice change. 

“What time?” 

Darcy beamed. “7pm. Common living room. There will be pizza and snacks. Jane picked the movie this week so hang on...hey Jane!” Darcy yelled across the lab to her best friend.

“Hmmm?” Jane acknowledged Darcy without lifting her head from her microscope. 

“What movie did you pick?” 

“Ummmm… labyrinth!” 

Darcy beamed, turning back to Pepper. “Labyrinth!” 

Pepper nodded appreciatively. “That sounds fun...maybe I will join you.” 

“The more the merrier!” Darcy exclaimed. 

***  
Three hours later, after completing the task she'd dragged herself down to the lab for in the first place (getting Jane and Bruce to sign some paperwork for projects they were doing for SI), taking a very hot shower, and changing into her most comfortable leggings, oversized sweater, socks, and slippers, she made her way down to the common living room: an area Tony had modified for avengers nightmare club after Darcy started gathering them all together.  
There were multiple comfy couches, a gigantic smart TV, a minibar and kitchen, tons of cozy blankets and pillows, and Tony's incredible selection of movies and TV shows to stream. 

Pepper entered the room to see Darcy, Jane, Bruce, Clint, and Natasha in the process of gathering their preferred movie snacks and arranging themselves in the living room. She eyed the assorted pizza boxes, bowls of popcorn, a few bags of candy, and the fridge had bottles of water, juice, and soda. 

The five of them greeted her cheerily and passed her a plate to fill up. She helped herself to a slice of pizza and a handful of dark chocolate almonds.  
In the living room, Clint and Natasha were wedged around each other in an oversized armchair, their knees and elbows fitting together smoothly and easily, suggesting they did this all the time. Natasha tucked herself easily against Clint and Pepper saw their hands clasped together. It was more intimacy than they usually showed in public and Pepper felt reassured that they felt safe enough in the tower for these little displays of affection. 

Bruce, Darcy, and Jane occupied the couch with Darcy leaning against Bruce, cuddled against him with his arm around her waist. Jane's head was on a small pillow in Darcy's lap and Darcy gently stroked her hair. 

Pepper started for the other oversized armchair on the other side of the couch and Bruce reached out to rest a hand on her arm.  
“Sit with us.” He said softly. 

The couch had a giant chaise lounge section so Pepper installed herself there next to Bruce. He smiled softly at her and she grinned back, playfully nudging his shoulder with hers. 

“Jarvis! Take us to goblin city!”  
“Of course, Ms. Lewis.”  
Darcy grinned and took a bite of her pizza as the movie started. 

Pepper hadn't watched Labyrinth in many years. In high school, it had been one of her favorite movies along with the usual angsty teen choices. 

Watching it as an adult was an interesting experience but she was surprised to find she still knew all the words to the Magic Dance song. 

By the time Jennifer made it to the heart of the labyrinth and confronted the Goblin King, Pepper was dozing off, her head resting against Bruce’s shoulder. As the end credits scrolled on the TV, Pepper opened her eyes to find she had tucked herself against Bruce and he’d put his arm around her.  


“Oh, Bruce, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to be in your space!” Pepper attempted to extract herself and Bruce let her get up but gently grasped her hand as she slipped out from his embrace.  


“Pepper, you don’t need to apologize.”  


“Yeah, Nightmare Club was invented for self-care purposes AKA snuggling with friends and feeling safe.” Darcy explained as she walked into the living room with a trash bag. Clint and Natasha were gone from their chair already and she couldn’t see Jane anywhere.  
Thinking about it, Pepper did have to admit she felt more relaxed than she had in a long time.  
Tony’s business trip was unusually long and Pepper, despite her frequent proclamations to the contrary, severely missed her practically husband even if they had no rings or marriage license when he wasn’t around.  


At the very least, her shoulders didn’t ache, the migraine had been tamed early, and her feet felt much better free from heels.  


“Believe me. I understand.” Darcy continued, “Bruce is really comfortable. He’s soft and warm like a teddy bear.”  


“I don’t know how to feel about that observation.” Bruce chimed in as he consolidated the leftover pizza to two boxes.  


Darcy grinned and tucked herself against his side. “I love my scientist teddy bear.”  


“What about Jane?” Bruce teased, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.  


“Jane is my scientist puppy. She needs constant supervision.”  


“Hey!” Jane exclaimed from her armchair underneath two blankets and Pepper jumped.  


“Jane, my dear, do you need assistance?”  


“Maybe?”  


Darcy laughed and gently removed herself from Bruce’s embrace to rescue her friend.  


“I’m glad you joined us.” Bruce said softly.  


“Thank you for inviting me.”  


“You’re always welcome, you know. Tony doesn’t have to be here.”  


“I don’t want to intrude…”  


“You’re never intruding. Tony is sometimes.”  


Pepper laughed and hugged Bruce. “Thank you.”  


“No problem.”  


Pepper rested her head against Bruce’s chest. “You are a scientist teddy bear.”  


“Right?!” Darcy and a half-asleep Jane draped across her back approached and Pepper offered to trade Bruce for Jane. After a delicate exchange, Pepper escorted Jane back to her room.  


“I know how you feel.” Jane murmured.  


Pepper glanced at her.  


“Thor’s gone a lot. He has a lot of responsibility on Asgard. It’s hard not seeing him but it helps that I’m not alone here.”  


“You’re stronger than I am, Jane. Tony is at least on Earth, even if he’s busy.”  


“Yeah, but he still carries the world on his shoulders.”

Later, when Pepper was curled up in bed, she checked her phone and saw a few texts from Tony that she’d missed during movie night. He was complaining about meetings and Pepper smiled, texting back _Miss you._


	2. Phil

"Coulson, what the hell are you still doing here?" 

Phil glanced up from the paperwork cluttering his desk to see Nick Fury in the doorway of his office, glaring at him.   
"My job?" Phil replied dryly.   


Fury snorted. "I told you to go home three hours ago." 

"And I will, after I finish this paperwork."   


Fury stepped forward and with one hand, swept all of the paperwork off of Phil's desk, scattering it all to the floor.   


"Looks like you finished."   


Phil sighed. "I had that organized, Nick." 

"It'll keep until Monday. Go home."Fury stalked away and Phil stared at the piles of paper all over the floor. 

Phil sighed again, grabbed his briefcase, and headed down to the garage. He sat in his car, feeling adrift. 

Phil had little social life outside of work. It was difficult to maintain any kind of relationship with non-S.H.I.E.L.D. people since he had to hide most of the details of his work and by nature of his career choice, his work was his life. It was lonely but most of the time, Phil had no regrets. Sometimes though, the thought of sitting in his apartment eating take out and watching netflix sounded too solitary even for Phil. He grabbed his phone, intending to place a pick up order at his favorite Mexican restaurant. If he was going to feel sorry for himself, he should at least do it in style. 

When he unlocked it, he was surprised to see some texts from _Awesome Archer 420 69_

Clint hacked into his phone periodically and changed all of the contact names. Phil rolled his eyes fondly and opened the messages.   


_Nite mare club 2nite. B there or b a huge dork._   


_U r a huge dork ne way but b an even huger dORK_   


_Nat says u have 2 come._   


On occasion, Phil humored Clint and Natasha and came to Nightmare Club, despite never being explicitly invited by Stark, though he never seemed upset when Phil dropped by. Tony pretended to grumble but Phil had it on good authority (Pepper's) that Tony didn't actually mind his company.   


_Fury did kick me out of my office so I might as well._   


Phil's phone buzzed right away with a reply and the message was entirely emojis; three smiles, two laughing faces, and a variety of vegetables and animals. Phil grinned, despite himself, and drove to his apartment to shower and change. When he arrived at Stark Tower, JARVIS let him in and the elevator automatically went to the common floor. 

"Phil!"Clint's face lit up as Phil walked in and warmth bloomed in his chest. He indulged the feeling for a moment, trying not to stare at Clint's arms in his worn t-shirt, and then shoved the feeling back down into the compartment where he kept all of his Clint related feelings.   


Natasha rolled her eyes at Clint, a small fond smirk on her face. She appeared uncharacteristically relaxed in black leggings and an oversized sweater and Phil's Nat related feelings got shoved into their own special compartment.   


Clint bumped Phil's shoulder. "Nice to see you out of the suit."   


Phil repressed his blush as best as he could but his ears still felt faintly warm. His black jeans, soft from multiple washes, and plaid button down shirt suddenly felt like a statement he hadn't meant to make.   


"Jeans, Agent! I can't believe Mama Fury let you leave the house in those clothes!"   


Tony passed Phil a beer from the fridge where Phil could now see over the kitchen island that he was buried in, head and shoulders deep.   


"Nick would be a terrifying parent." Phil grabbed the bottle opener off of the counter and pried off the bottle cap.   


"lt's super creepy that you call him Nick." Tony emerged from the fridge with an assortment of items in his hands, mostly condiment bottles.   


"We've been friends for almost 15 years, Tony."   


"Still creepy." Tony dumped the bottles on the counter and gestured to the many take out containers on the dining room table in the next room.   


"For dinner tonight, we have food from the greek place and any sort of alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverage your heart could possibly desire. Also, ice cream, I think."   


"And what movie are you subjecting us to?" Phil asked. 

"No movies tonight. It's game night! We voted and we're playing Ticket to Ride!"   


"Oh, that's my favorite board game!" Phil caught a glimpse of Clint's face in his peripheral and thought he saw a soft smile on his face.   


"Katniss mentioned that so glad you were allowed out of your pod for the night."   


Clint, Phil, and Natasha all rolled their eyes in unison and Tony shuddered.   


"You are all creepy. You probably all have pods." 

He scuttled into the living room with a plate of food and wedged himself between Pepper and Bruce on the couch. Phil felt a hand on his arm and he turned. 

"We really are glad you came." Natasha said.   


"Yeah, boss we haven't seen you around in awhile!" 

"Fury kept me in my pod for recharging."Phil replied dryly.   


Clint snorted. "Tony's an idiot. He's just teasing. If he knew you like we know you, he'd realize how wrong he is."   


Clint busied himself with piling as much food as he could on a plate and Natasha drifted closer to Phil. She leaned against him as she reached for a plate and Phil took it as the familiar gesture of affection it was from her. She'd missed him in her own way and that was more than Phil ever hoped for.   


"OK, everyone, we have more people here than can play each game at one time so we have a few games to choose from and then we can switch after if we want. We have Ticket to Ride, Settlers of Catan, Apples to Apples, a bunch of other games I can't remember so follow your hearts everyone!" Tony announced and grabbed the Settlers of Catan box to set up at one of the large coffee tables in the living room. 

Pepper, Bruce, Darcy, and Jane joined him. Clint and Natasha absconded with Ticket to Ride and started setting up. Steve cautiously approached and asked if he could join. They made room for him around the table.   


"C'mon Phil!"Clint waved him over and Phil sat down next to Steve.  


"Ok, what color train does everyone want?"Natasha held up the zip lok bags of tiny plastic trains. Phil chose yellow, Steve claimed blue, Natasha took black, and Clint went with red. Steve was the only one in the group that had never played before so they all took turns explaining the rules.   


They ended up playing two games. Steve won the first round and Natasha won the second. By the time everyone was cleaning up the games, Phil found himself sprawled in an armchair, head tilted back, his body as closed to relaxed as it ever got without chemical help. Clint came over and perched on the arm of the chair. He made sure Phil could see him as he moved his hands to Phil's shoulders. Phil groaned with pleasure as Clint dug his thumbs into the base of his neck.   


"I've missed your massages."   


"You haven't been around." Clint sounded casual but Phil could hear the twinge of hurt under the words. 

"Fury keeps me busy. But I'm glad he gave me the night off."   


"Me too." Phil smiled and let himself enjoy Clint's hands on his body, pressing the tension out of his shoulders and neck.   


Phil must have drifted off because he snapped awake and found himself still in the armchair, Clint and Natasha wedged around him. A movie played quietly on the TV, one that Phil didn't recognize. Clint had his head in Phil's lap, legs dangling over the arm of the chair. Natasha sat on the floor between his legs, her face pressed against his knee. She angled her head to look up at him.  


"Ok?"   


"Yes." Phil replied, his body relaxing again. Natasha gave him one of her rare soft smiles and leaned back against him again. Clint, fast asleep against him, murmured and nuzzled closer to Phil without waking up. He could see Pepper and Tony curled up on the couch and Darcy and Bruce sitting on the floor together with Steve drifting off, his head in Darcy's lap. She smiled fondly at him, gently running her fingers through his hair. Phil smiled and Tony caught his eye and winked at him. Phil closed his eyes and let himself bask in the rare feeling of safety and comfort surrounding him.


	3. Rhodey

Rhodey hated break ups. 

He doubted anyone actually liked them but to him each one felt like a reminder of what he’d sacrificed to have his (mostly) amazing life. Some days, he wondered if he’d made the right choice.  


It was the morning after his current partner had dumped him. When Rhodey woke up, for a few blissful seconds he didn’t remember and then the memories of the night before settled onto his chest and Rhodey rolled over, burying his face in his pillow.   


His pity party was interrupted by the sounds of “Back in Black” echoing from his bedside table. Rhodey reached for it without looking and answered.   


“Yes Tony?”  


“Well don’t you sound like a ray of sunshine?” 

“Do you need something?”  


“Only to hear your beautiful voice in my ear.”  


Rhodey snorted, smiling despite himself. “I aim to please.”   


“So what’s up with my best buddy?” Rhodey heard a clank in the background.   


“Nothing much. Got dumped last night so that was really fun.”   


Tony hissed. “Oh, man, that sucks! I’m sorry, honeybear. You know no matter what I-I will always looooove yooooouu ooooooo!” Tony warbled Whitney Houston in Rhodey’s ear loudly and off-key.   


Rhodey grimaced, holding the phone away from his ear. “I love you too, Tones.”   


“You should come to Nightmare Club tonight. We’re playing high stakes poker. Winner gets a family size bag of peanut m&m’s.”   


“With a prize like that how can I resist?”  


“You can’t. Be there at 7!”  


They chatted about other topics for a little bit: their respective projects, upgrades for the Iron Patriot, and people they both hated. When Rhodey hung up, after another reminder to be at Stark Tower by 7, he felt a little better.   


He had meetings for most of the day but for once they ended fairly early. Rhodey went back to his apartment, showered and dressed, and opened his phone to call a lyft to Avengers Tower. Of course, his phone rang before he could displaying Happy’s private number and Rhodey answered to Happy informing him he was downstairs whenever Rhodey was ready to go.   


Happy dropped him off at the Tower and Rhodey went up to the common room floor. The doors opened and inside, a poker game was already in progress between Natasha, Clint, Tony, and Bruce. A large bowl filled with M&M’s sat in front of Natasha. She was smirking at Tony, her legs on the bottom rung of Clint’s chair. Clint had one foot hooked around a leg of her chair.   


“Cheater! Filthy cheater!” Tony yelled, gesturing at Natasha with his drink.   


“If you can prove it, I’ll give you my winnings.” 

Tony groaned. “Why did I let you move in again?” 

Rhodey grinned. “Tony, what did I tell you about being a sore loser?”  


Tony immediately abandoned his faux whining and jumped to hug him.  


“Honeybear, I’ve missed you!”  


Rhodey hugged him back. “Missed you too, Tones.” 

“Come back, Tony. You still have some M&M’s left!” Natasha popped an M&M into her mouth.  


“Hey, no eating those until the end of the round!” Tony let go of Rhodey and hurried back to the table. Rhodey laughed and grabbed a soda from the fridge, perching on a stool at the kitchen island to watch Tony lose. Natasha, of course, cleaned up and decided to sit the next game out since she didn’t want to take too much advantage of amateurs, she announced before relocating to the couch. Bruce joined her and Rhodey saw her splitting her M&M winnings with him.   


Tony and Clint stayed at the table and a fresh gigantic bag of M&M’s was brought out. Rhodey sat down at the table and they were soon joined by Darcy.   


“Deal me in, Mama’s feeling lucky!” She exclaimed. Rhodey heard Bruce’s soft chuckle.   


As they played, Rhodey felt his mood lift. The good natured teasing and Tony’s over the top complaining when he was losing gradually eased the stress and tension that usually permeated Rhodey. Tony was his best friend, one of his favorite people on the planet, and he didn’t see him as much as he would like. 

After Clint wins almost the entire bag of M&M’s, Tony instructed JARVIS to order pizza and they take a break. “I’m officially out of M&M’s.” Tony declared.   


Clint snickered and popped another candy in his mouth.  


“Are you saying we need to switch to a different card game?” Natasha asked.   


Tony nodded. “I have some options.” 

After the pizza arrived and everyone was settled with food and drinks, they ended up playing a bunch of rounds of uno, which Tony actually won a few times. They each contributed their favorite card game to the mix and after Clint started his choice, creating increasingly elaborate and complicated rules until Natasha got cranky and revoked his card game privileges, Tony suggested go fish.   


Rhodey didn’t realize how late it was getting until he had to be gently prodded awake for his turn. 

“What time is it?” He yawned and patted his pockets for his phone.  


“If I may Colonel Rhodes, it is 11:30pm.” JARVIS interrupted.   


“Wow and Pepper hasn’t come to retrieve me yet.” Tony exclaimed.  


“11:30, no wonder I’m falling asleep!” Rhodey stretched and his back cracked loudly.  


“Calling it quits already, old man?” Tony smirked. 

“This old man was up at 7am so yes, I am.” 

“I made up your usual guest room for you, well JARVIS arranged it and our super star cleaning staff cleaned it, but it is all ready for you.”  


“Thanks, Tony.”   


Rhodey said goodnight to everyone still in the common room and a chorus of goodnights answered him: Natasha and Clint, still at the card table, Tony of course, Bruce and Darcy cuddled up together on the couch. He had missed this, being with his friends and relaxing, not worrying about the next threat or how to explain his job to people who didn’t understand. His now ex-girlfriend, a lovely person, but not entirely understanding of how weird his life was, how much of it had recently become classified, and how when his phone rang he had to answer every single time, no matter what, even if he didn’t recognize the number. She had thought maybe she could come first but in Rhodey’s line of work, it would never happen. He had a greater obligation and the burden sometimes weighed on him. Being in the tower, with his friends, people who understood that weight and carried it too, was better than his mandated therapy sessions, better than scattered one night stands when he had an evening off, and certainly better than trying to understand the world alone.   


As Rhodey sank into his usual bed, after changing into the spare pajamas Tony left for him and brushing his teeth with the spare toothbrush, he thought that Tony’s taste in mattresses was certainly the best.


End file.
